5 Most Famous New York Billionaires

New York City has its share of billionaire residents, but who are the 5 most famous New York billionaires? New York is more than a city with millionaire and billionaire residents; the World Financial Center is also seated in the borough of Manhattan. See the list below for the most famous New York billionaires.

Michael Bloomberg. Sometimes called " Mayor Mike, " Michael Bloomberg is the eighth richest American citizen; with a net worth of $20,000,000,000. Mr. Bloomberg began creating wealth as a trader with Solomon Brothers in the 1970s, he quit after he made $10,000,000 in stock with a merger. Michael Bloomberg has given away more than $500,000,000 over the last five years.

David Koch. Mr. Koch of Koch Industries has a net worth of $19,000,000,000. His late father invented a method of turning oil into gasoline. Koch Industries employs 80,000 people in 60 countries and has stake in refineries, consumer products, fertilizer and polymers to name a few.

Carl Icahn. In spite of his company Icahn Enterprises' share holdings going down 60% in recent years, Mr. Icahn's net worth still soars at $12,000,000,000. He started his career on Wall Street working in securities, and made large sums of money in 1980s buyouts.

Ronald Perelman. After leaving his father's buyout business in 1978, Ronald bought close to a $2,000,000 stake in jewelry distribution. Today he owns large stakes in AM General; maker of the military Humvee, and the lottery outfit Scientific Games. He was also business partners with former president Gerald Ford; having sold Golden State Bancorp to Citigroup for $6,000,000,000 in 2002. Perelman's net worth is $11.5,000,000,000.

Leonard Blavatnik. He arrived in the US from Russia penniless in 1978 at 21 years old, his net worth is now $11,000,000,000. Leonard is a graduate of Harvard, and Columbia University. He is in the oil business, having merged Tyumen Oil and British Petroleum in Russia to become Russia's second largest oil company.

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The combined wealth of these five New York billionaires is $72.5,000,000,000